there's he hope a deal will be cut before new year's to avert the fiscal cliff by extending tax cuts temporarily or tax cuts from people under $250,000 of income. i spoke this morning to a republican member of congress who said, we still can come back next week, and we can still do it, although, you know, mara was talking in her piece about shoppers who think they get a better deal the longer they wait. it's a worse deal for the republican party having waited this long, having gotten beaten on the plan b that speaker boehner was trying to do. the terms are getting worse for republicans, not better. >> a lot of people watching this will say if congress couldn't reach a grand bargain with a self-imposed deadline, this so-called fiscal cliff, when will they ever get together and do something big? is there hope beyond the 31st and 1st of this year that eventually there will be a big deal? >> well, i've always been perhaps excessively optimistic about this, but i think, yes. look, members of congress understand that we have a long-term fiscal problem. they have different visions for how t